OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
A Tutorial on Coding Methods for DNA-based Molecular Communications and Storage
Venue: arXiv cs.IT 2023
Year: 2023

Exponential increase of data has motivated advances of data storage technologies. As a promising storage media, DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA) storage provides a much higher data density and superior durability, compared with state-of-the-art media. In this paper, we provide a tutorial on DNA storage and its role in molecular communications. Firstly, we introduce fundamentals of DNA-based molecular communications and storage (MCS), discussing the basic process of performing DNA storage in MCS. Furthermore, we provide tutorials on how conventional coding schemes that are used in wireless communications can be applied to DNA-based MCS, along with numerical results. Finally, promising research directions on DNA-based data storage in molecular communications are introduced and discussed in this paper.
Gen-Z: Generative Zero-Shot Text Classification with Contextualized Label Descriptions
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2023
Year: 2023

Language model (LM) prompting--a popular paradigm for solving NLP tasks--has been shown to be susceptible to miscalibration and brittleness to slight prompt variations, caused by its discriminative prompting approach, i.e., predicting the label given the input. To address these issues, we propose Gen-Z--a generative prompting framework for zero-shot text classification. GEN-Z is generative, as it measures the LM likelihood of input text, conditioned on natural language descriptions of labels. The framework is multivariate, as label descriptions allow us to seamlessly integrate additional contextual information about the labels to improve task performance. On various standard classification benchmarks, with six open-source LM families, we show that zero-shot classification with simple contextualization of the data source of the evaluation set consistently outperforms both zero-shot and few-shot baselines while improving robustness to prompt variations. Further, our approach enables personalizing classification in a zero-shot manner by incorporating author, subject, or reader information in the label descriptions.
Detecting As Labeling: Rethinking LiDAR-camera Fusion in 3D Object Detection
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

3D object Detection with LiDAR-camera encounters overfitting in algorithm development which is derived from the violation of some fundamental rules. We refer to the data annotation in dataset construction for theory complementing and argue that the regression task prediction should not involve the feature from the camera branch. By following the cutting-edge perspective of 'Detecting As Labeling', we propose a novel paradigm dubbed DAL. With the most classical elementary algorithms, a simple predicting pipeline is constructed by imitating the data annotation process. Then we train it in the simplest way to minimize its dependency and strengthen its portability. Though simple in construction and training, the proposed DAL paradigm not only substantially pushes the performance boundary but also provides a superior trade-off between speed and accuracy among all existing methods. With comprehensive superiority, DAL is an ideal baseline for both future work development and practical deployment. The code has been released to facilitate future work on https://github.com/HuangJunJie2017/BEVDet.
IASCAR: Incremental Answer Set Counting by Anytime Refinement
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

Answer set programming (ASP) is a popular declarative programming paradigm with various applications. Programs can easily have many answer sets that cannot be enumerated in practice, but counting still allows quantifying solution spaces. If one counts under assumptions on literals, one obtains a tool to comprehend parts of the solution space, so-called answer set navigation. However, navigating through parts of the solution space requires counting many times, which is expensive in theory. Knowledge compilation compiles instances into representations on which counting works in polynomial time. However, these techniques exist only for CNF formulas, and compiling ASP programs into CNF formulas can introduce an exponential overhead. This paper introduces a technique to iteratively count answer sets under assumptions on knowledge compilations of CNFs that encode supported models. Our anytime technique uses the inclusion-exclusion principle to improve bounds by over- and undercounting systematically. In a preliminary empirical analysis, we demonstrate promising results. After compiling the input (offline phase), our approach quickly (re)counts.
Bio-Inspired Grasping Controller for Sensorized 2-DoF Grippers
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2023
Year: 2023

We present a holistic grasping controller, combining free-space position control and in-contact force-control for reliable grasping given uncertain object pose estimates. Employing tactile fingertip sensors, undesired object displacement during grasping is minimized by pausing the finger closing motion for individual joints on first contact until force-closure is established. While holding an object, the controller is compliant with external forces to avoid high internal object forces and prevent object damage. Gravity as an external force is explicitly considered and compensated for, thus preventing gravity-induced object drift. We evaluate the controller in two experiments on the TIAGo robot and its parallel-jaw gripper proving the effectiveness of the approach for robust grasping and minimizing object displacement. In a series of ablation studies, we demonstrate the utility of the individual controller components.
Multi Sentence Description of Complex Manipulation Action Videos
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Automatic video description requires the generation of natural language statements about the actions, events, and objects in the video. An important human trait, when we describe a video, is that we are able to do this with variable levels of detail. Different from this, existing approaches for automatic video descriptions are mostly focused on single sentence generation at a fixed level of detail. Instead, here we address video description of manipulation actions where different levels of detail are required for being able to convey information about the hierarchical structure of these actions relevant also for modern approaches of robot learning. We propose one hybrid statistical and one end-to-end framework to address this problem. The hybrid method needs much less data for training, because it models statistically uncertainties within the video clips, while in the end-to-end method, which is more data-heavy, we are directly connecting the visual encoder to the language decoder without any intermediate (statistical) processing step. Both frameworks use LSTM stacks to allow for different levels of description granularity and videos can be described by simple single-sentences or complex multiple-sentence descriptions. In addition, quantitative results demonstrate that these methods produce more realistic descriptions than other competing approaches.
Enhancing NAC-ABE to Support Access Control for mHealth Applications and Beyond
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2023
Year: 2023

Name-based access control (NAC) over NDN provides fine-grained data confidentiality and access control by encrypting and signing data at the time of data production. NAC utilizes specially crafted naming conventions to define and enforce access control policies. NAC-ABE, an extension to NAC, uses an attribute-based encryption (ABE) scheme to support access control with improved scalability and flexibility. However, existing NAC-ABE libraries are based on ciphertext-policy ABE (CP-ABE), which requires knowledge of the access policy when encrypting data packets. In some applications, including mHealth, the data access policy is unknown at the time of data generation, while data attributes and properties are known. In this paper, we present an extension to the existing NDN-ABE library which can be used by mHealth and other applications to enforce fine-granularity access control in data sharing. We also discuss the challenges we encountered during the application deployment, and remaining open issues together with potential solution directions.
C-Procgen: Empowering Procgen with Controllable Contexts
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

We present C-Procgen, an enhanced suite of environments on top of the Procgen benchmark. C-Procgen provides access to over 200 unique game contexts across 16 games. It allows for detailed configuration of environments, ranging from game mechanics to agent attributes. This makes the procedural generation process, previously a black-box in Procgen, more transparent and adaptable for various research needs.The upgrade enhances dynamic context management and individualized assignments, while maintaining computational efficiency. C-Procgen's controllable contexts make it applicable in diverse reinforcement learning research areas, such as learning dynamics analysis, curriculum learning, and transfer learning. We believe that C-Procgen will fill a gap in the current literature and offer a valuable toolkit for future works.
The Impact of Large Language Models on Scientific Discovery: a Preliminary Study using GPT-4
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2023
Year: 2023

In recent years, groundbreaking advancements in natural language processing have culminated in the emergence of powerful large language models (LLMs), which have showcased remarkable capabilities across a vast array of domains, including the understanding, generation, and translation of natural language, and even tasks that extend beyond language processing. In this report, we delve into the performance of LLMs within the context of scientific discovery, focusing on GPT-4, the state-of-the-art language model. Our investigation spans a diverse range of scientific areas encompassing drug discovery, biology, computational chemistry (density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD)), materials design, and partial differential equations (PDE). Evaluating GPT-4 on scientific tasks is crucial for uncovering its potential across various research domains, validating its domain-specific expertise, accelerating scientific progress, optimizing resource allocation, guiding future model development, and fostering interdisciplinary research. Our exploration methodology primarily consists of expert-driven case assessments, which offer qualitative insights into the model's comprehension of intricate scientific concepts and relationships, and occasionally benchmark testing, which quantitatively evaluates the model's capacity to solve well-defined domain-specific problems. Our preliminary exploration indicates that GPT-4 exhibits promising potential for a variety of scientific applications, demonstrating its aptitude for handling complex problem-solving and knowledge integration tasks. Broadly speaking, we evaluate GPT-4's knowledge base, scientific understanding, scientific numerical calculation abilities, and various scientific prediction capabilities.
Multi-Layer Monitoring at the Edge for Vehicular Video Streaming: Field Trials
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2023
Year: 2023

In an increasingly connected world, wireless networks' monitoring and characterization are of vital importance. Service and application providers need to have a detailed understanding of network performance to offer new solutions tailored to the needs of today's society. In the context of mobility, in-vehicle infotainment services are expected to stand out among other popular connected vehicle services, so it is essential that communication networks are able to satisfy the Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements needed for these type of services. This paper investigates a multi-layer network performance monitoring architecture at the edge providing QoS, QoE, and localization information for vehicular video streaming applications in real-time over 5G networks. In order to conduct field trials and show test results, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)' 5G Standalone (SA) network and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) infrastructure are used to provide connectivity and edge computing resources to a vehicle equipped with a 5G modem.
Context-Aware Adaptive Prefetching for DASH Streaming over 5G Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2023
Year: 2023

The increasing consumption of video streams and the demand for higher-quality content drive the evolution of telecommunication networks and the development of new network accelerators to boost media delivery while optimizing network usage. Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) enables the possibility to enforce media delivery by deploying caching instances at the network edge, close to the Radio Access Network (RAN). Thus, the content can be prefetched and served from the MEC host, reducing network traffic and increasing the Quality of Service (QoS) and the Quality of Experience (QoE). This paper proposes a novel mechanism to prefetch Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) streams at the MEC, employing a Machine Learning (ML) classification model to select the media segments to prefetch. The model is trained with media session metrics to improve the forecasts with application layer information. The proposal is tested with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)' 5G MEC and RAN and compared with other strategies by assessing cache and player's performance metrics.
Toward Optimal Psychological Functioning in AI-driven Software Engineering Tasks: The SEWELL-CARE Assessment Framework
Venue: arXiv cs.SE 2023
Year: 2023

In the field of software engineering, there has been a shift towards utilizing various artificial intelligence techniques to address challenges and create innovative tools. These solutions are aimed at enhancing efficiency, automating tasks, and providing valuable support to developers. While the technical aspects are crucial, the well-being and psychology of the individuals performing these tasks are often overlooked. This paper argues that a holistic approach is essential, one that considers the technical, psychological, and social aspects of software engineering tasks. To address this gap, we introduce SEWELL-CARE, a conceptual framework designed to assess AI-driven software engineering tasks from multiple perspectives, with the goal of customizing the tools to improve the efficiency, well-being, and psychological functioning of developers. By emphasizing both technical and human dimensions, our framework provides a nuanced evaluation that goes beyond traditional technical metrics.
Optimising Human-AI Collaboration by Learning Convincing Explanations
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Machine learning models are being increasingly deployed to take, or assist in taking, complicated and high-impact decisions, from quasi-autonomous vehicles to clinical decision support systems. This poses challenges, particularly when models have hard-to-detect failure modes and are able to take actions without oversight. In order to handle this challenge, we propose a method for a collaborative system that remains safe by having a human ultimately making decisions, while giving the model the best opportunity to convince and debate them with interpretable explanations. However, the most helpful explanation varies among individuals and may be inconsistent across stated preferences. To this end we develop an algorithm, Ardent, to efficiently learn a ranking through interaction and best assist humans complete a task. By utilising a collaborative approach, we can ensure safety and improve performance while addressing transparency and accountability concerns. Ardent enables efficient and effective decision-making by adapting to individual preferences for explanations, which we validate through extensive simulations alongside a user study involving a challenging image classification task, demonstrating consistent improvement over competing systems.
Story-to-Motion: Synthesizing Infinite and Controllable Character Animation from Long Text
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Generating natural human motion from a story has the potential to transform the landscape of animation, gaming, and film industries. A new and challenging task, Story-to-Motion, arises when characters are required to move to various locations and perform specific motions based on a long text description. This task demands a fusion of low-level control (trajectories) and high-level control (motion semantics). Previous works in character control and text-to-motion have addressed related aspects, yet a comprehensive solution remains elusive: character control methods do not handle text description, whereas text-to-motion methods lack position constraints and often produce unstable motions. In light of these limitations, we propose a novel system that generates controllable, infinitely long motions and trajectories aligned with the input text. (1) We leverage contemporary Large Language Models to act as a text-driven motion scheduler to extract a series of (text, position, duration) pairs from long text. (2) We develop a text-driven motion retrieval scheme that incorporates motion matching with motion semantic and trajectory constraints. (3) We design a progressive mask transformer that addresses common artifacts in the transition motion such as unnatural pose and foot sliding. Beyond its pioneering role as the first comprehensive solution for Story-to-Motion, our system undergoes evaluation across three distinct sub-tasks: trajectory following, temporal action composition, and motion blending, where it outperforms previous state-of-the-art motion synthesis methods across the board. Homepage: https://story2motion.github.io/.
Trust in Queer Human-Robot Interaction
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2023
Year: 2023

Human-robot interaction (HRI) systems need to build trust with people of diverse identities. This position paper argues that queer (LGBTQIA+) people must be included in the design and evaluation of HRI systems to ensure their trust in and acceptance of robots. Queer people have faced discrimination and harm from artificial intelligence and robotic systems. Despite calls for increased diversity and inclusion, HRI has not systemically addressed queer issues. This paper suggests three approaches to address trust in queer HRI: diversifying human-subject pools, centering queer people in HRI studies, and contextualizing measures of trust.
Temporal Performance Prediction for Deep Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Quantifying predictive uncertainty of deep semantic segmentation networks is essential in safety-critical tasks. In applications like autonomous driving, where video data is available, convolutional long short-term memory networks are capable of not only providing semantic segmentations but also predicting the segmentations of the next timesteps. These models use cell states to broadcast information from previous data by taking a time series of inputs to predict one or even further steps into the future. We present a temporal postprocessing method which estimates the prediction performance of convolutional long short-term memory networks by either predicting the intersection over union of predicted and ground truth segments or classifying between intersection over union being equal to zero or greater than zero. To this end, we create temporal cell state-based input metrics per segment and investigate different models for the estimation of the predictive quality based on these metrics. We further study the influence of the number of considered cell states for the proposed metrics.
Reducing the Need for Backpropagation and Discovering Better Optima With Explicit Optimizations of Neural Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Iterative differential approximation methods that rely upon backpropagation have enabled the optimization of neural networks; however, at present, they remain computationally expensive, especially when training models at scale. In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient alternative for optimizing neural networks that can both reduce the costs of scaling neural networks and provide high-efficiency optimizations for low-resource applications. We derive an explicit solution to a simple feed-forward language model (LM) by mathematically analyzing its gradients. This solution generalizes from single-layer LMs to the class of all single-layer feed-forward softmax-activated neural models trained on positive-valued features, as is demonstrated by our extension of this solution application to MNIST digit classification. For both LM and digit classifiers, we find computationally that explicit solutions perform near-optimality in experiments showing that 1) iterative optimization only marginally improves the explicit solution parameters and 2) randomly initialized parameters iteratively optimize towards the explicit solution. We also preliminarily apply the explicit solution locally by layer in multi-layer networks and discuss how the solution's computational savings increase with model complexity -- for both single- and mult-layer applications of the explicit solution, we emphasize that the optima achieved cannot be reached by backpropagation alone, i.e., better optima appear discoverable only after explicit solutions are applied. Finally, we discuss the solution's computational savings alongside its impact on model interpretability and suggest future directions for the derivation of explicit solutions to complex- and multi-layer architectures.
ARWalker: A Virtual Walking Companion Application
Venue: arXiv cs.HC 2023
Year: 2023

Extended Reality (XR) technologies, including Augmented Reality (AR), have attracted significant attention over the past few years and have been utilized in several fields, including education, healthcare, and manufacturing. In this paper, we aim to explore the use of AR in the field of biomechanics and human movement through the development of ARWalker, which is an AR application that features virtual walking companions (avatars). Research participants walk in close synchrony with the virtual companions, whose gait exhibits properties found in the gait of young and healthy adults. As a result, research participants can train their gait to the gait of the avatar, thus regaining the healthy properties of their gait and reducing the risk of falls. ARWalker can especially help older adults and individuals with diseases, who exhibit pathological gait thus being more prone to falls. We implement a prototype of ARWalker and evaluate its systems performance while running on a Microsoft Hololens 2 headset.